1)    Drafting is the primary building block of your fantasy baseball team.  We refer to it as “half the battle” in fantasy baseball.  Setting the foundations for your entire season occurs in 1-2 hours of a draft.  Here you will pick your starters, sleepers, breakout players, and All-Stars.  It requires a comprehensive strategy that covers each round, and we will examine what type of player to get and when to grab them.

2)       Most managers will go into a draft with a strategy of lining up there first 2-3 rounds, marking sleepers, and will have a list of players they most want.  There is nothing wrong with doing a draft like that except there is more you need to do beyond just the first 2-3 rounds.  Managers must prepare and prepare plenty.  Since you’ve already read the first two gospels you know about the scoring systems, rules, and roster.  Now, its time to put that knowledge to work for you.  Knowing in-depth how your players will score and what players fit the bill in each position is absolutely an advantage going into the draft.

3)       The first draft strategy we will cover in the following chapter is pre-draft preparedness.  We will share the expert techniques used to prepare a manager for a fantasy baseball draft.
 

2.       Pre-Draft Preparations: Get Informed and Updated

4)       Before you pull out the pen and paper, before you even write down your sleepers you have to know what’s going on at that time in MLB.  Answer all of the following questions by researching magazines and sites like www.fantasybaseballsearch.com. 

5)       Note player movement, and which teams got which free agents.  Who has been traded?

6)       Who is currently injured or has a nagging injury kepping out of spring training?

7)       Who’s been cut from spring training teams.  You don’t want to waste any of your picks on a player in free agency.

8)       Who, especially out of the young players is excelling in spring training?

9)       Also peak at up-to-date  top 100 prospects list.   You may find some surprises.

10)   Here’ s a tip that all the best fantasy experts use and it’s normally a few clicks away.  Use the local newspaper web sites for the MLB teams.  If you are curious about a player or even a possible sleeper, visit the local newspaper for his team and see what they are saying about him.  The most reliable information you can get a hold of before that information becomes mainstream is by reading the teams’ local newspapers.  

3.       Pre-Draft Preparations Step: Plan Of Attack

11)   Before we even start picking players, we need to draw up a plan of attack for the draft.  Most drafts give 30-90 seconds for a pick, so knowing your options early will allow you to panic less and by panicking less you make better decisions.  You will need several sheets of paper and something to write it.

12)   First, grab a plain piece of white paper.  Draw three large circles on the left-hand side of the paper with enough room to write in them.  Write outfielders/utility, infield, and pitcher.  This is your outline of attack.  Your first pick will be contained in one of these circles. 

13)   From here on it’s more decision making, and deciding which players to take.  We will get more into that later in this gospel. 

14) Draw a short line out from each circle.  Your second pick will connect to that line.  The strategy here is you don’t want to repeat taking a certain player with your first two picks like two pitchers or two outfielders.  So for the outfielder/utility line write “IF” (infield) and “P” (pitching).  For the pitching line write “IF” and “OF”.  For the infield line write “IF”, “OF”, and “P”.  The order in which we said to write it in is the order you should try and get a player in that position.  As you can see we value infielders in the early rounds. 

15)   Continue to use this map to through at least the first 15 picks.  Each time you make a pick based on the need for that round circle the pick, draw a line, and determine the positions you need for the next round.  That will help you focus on what you need by narrowing it.  Maybe in round 6 you need a SP (starting pitcher), and then an outfielder.  Marking this on your map will make sure you don’t waste time researching a closer or first basemen.  

16)   the map aside, pull out a second sheet.  Now, choose your #1 draft pick by selecting the number of players that correspond to your draft pick location.  For example, let’s assume you have the 10^th overall pick in the draft.  You would then pick the top 10 players you would take with your pick.  Let’s continue this example by writing down our top 10 players for 2008.  We will select for the 2008 season AROD, Hanley Ramirez, David Wright, Jimmy Rollins, Jose Reyes, Matt Holiday, Johan Santana, Ryan Braun, Chase Utley, Carl Crawford, and Albert Pujols.

17)   Let’s make it more interesting, by making this example more even by using the 5^th overall pick as your draft selection.  It’s the middle-of-the-road pick, so it’s a great focal point for the draft. Now you have to order the top 5 players out of our top 10 list.  Let’s assume your order is starting with AROD, Hanley Ramirez, Jimmy Rollins David Wright, and Johan Santana as your top five.  Your first round work is finished because you are guaranteed to get one of those five players, and in some cases you’ll get to decide from 2-3 of those players.

18)   Next on the same sheet, prepare a list for the sleepers you want.  Put as many as you’d like to on the list.   Get a top 100-200 player rankings list.  You can find these in magazines and on web sites like Fantasy Baseball Search.  This list will be valuable during the draft.  However, make sure that the list reflects how you feel about the players rank.  The more it reflects your ideas, the easier it will be to use it during the draft.  We recommend it over a cheat sheets because those are just more papers to shuffle through and waste time.  If you wish to have the cheat sheets, hold them off to the side.  You shouldn’t need them until rounds 11-15, or incase of emergency.

19)   At draft start time, have all those papers ready and in front of you.  Those papers are your allies in the war room. Next, we will analyze the draft rounds.  Remember, it’s a must that you draft according to your league rules, scoring system, and roster.  The advice we are going to give will be somewhat general, but it will provide you a guide into drafting the best team possible.  We will also try giving that advice from a point-of-view that represents all league types.

4.       Rounds 1-2, Plan, and Control

20)   The first two rounds are critical and will establish the flow for the rest of your draft.  It is important that you get the players you want and that you go into the third round in the position your plan wants you in.  Again, we will assume you have the overall 5^th pick.  You have already mapped out the first five picks and have your bubbles drawn.

21)   The 1^st round is the only round that you truly know what you will get.  We selected five players, and when your pick is up, one of those five players has to be there.  We will assume Jimmy Rollins and Johan Santana are left from your top five.  This is where you can start to take the advantage of the draft by selecting a dominating player, but by forcing the other managers to consider their picks.  Not only do you want to draft according to the league rules and scoring, but you also want to take a franchise player .  With your first two picks you must make an attempt to dominate the positions you select from.  A player like Jimmy Rollins is probably the top shortstop in the league and would dominate a tough-to-fill position.  Johan Santana is an ace pitcher no doubt, but it’s much more difficult for him to dominate his position after a tough year and with so much competition at pitching. So, when you have a choice between 2 or more players and you always will, ask yourself the following questions.  Any players that cannot get a “YES” answer eliminate them from the pick.

22)   Question 1 – Can this player clearly dominate his position?  Let’s define what dominating a position means.  Most leagues will have 10-12 teams, which means 10-12 starters in a given position.  Whether you are in a rotisserie, head-to-head or points league it’s important to dominate as many positions as possible.  For example, knowing you have the best shortstop over all gives you a decisive advantage in head-to-head and in a rotisserie leagues. Remember at the end of the season you might win by only a few points.  Even if you get the 2^nd or 3rd best player in certain positions you need to win match ups. 

23)   We will talk more about match ups and dominating positions later in the bible.  Regardless of how many teams there are in your league your goal is to be number one.  The answer to the questions is Jimmy Rollins can dominate his position at a higher level than Santana.

24)   Question 2 – How deep is this position, can I get a high quality player (same tier) in this position later in the draft? For Rollins, “No”, for Santana, “Yes”.  Many pitchers will be left for the second round, but shortstops will go quickly for the top tier.

25)    You should ask those questions whenever you have a hard choice for a player you plan to start.  Of course in our example we already ranked Jimmy Rollins ahead of Santana, so we take the shortstop.  Again, we want to emphasize the importance of getting a player that clearly dominates a position.  Strategically we will tell you that if you can get a top notch infielder outside of 1B in the first round take that player.  The dividends from this pick will start paying off in the draft itself. 

26)   Drafting is just moves in a large long chess game, and in chess when a player makes a great move, the other player has to react.  One way to dominate a draft is to get the other managers to react to your pick and not picking what they need the most.  The first round is the hardest round to establish that in since all the players are killers and expected to go regardless of your pick, but your pick can definitely make noise.

27)   On a new piece of paper note how many players in each position went in the 1^st round.  Leave space for several more rounds.  This is the equivalent of counting cards.  If you know what’s been played, then you have a real good idea what’s coming. Also, on your 150 player ranking sheet, cross off the players picked while you are waiting. 

28)   Its also a good idea to check the rosters of the 2 or 3 teams drafting in front of you.  Sometimes you can tell their needs by what they have.  Even easier, you can tell what they won’t go for because they already have.  Example, the manager who drafted David Wright in the 1^st round probably won’t be looking at another third basemen for awhile.

29)   Round 2 is different.  While you are in-between picks, its time to pull out the piece of paper with the circles on it.  Cross out all the ones, but the pick you made.  In our example we got an infielder, which is the best pick you could make in the first round, so on the line extending from that circle it should have IF, SP, and OF.

30)   In the second round, assuming you got your infielder its time to make some noise if the drafts let you, and at some point all drafts will let you.  In our example 2008 draft we’ll say that 3 shortstops, 3 third basemen, 2 outfielders, a pitcher, and first basemen are out the door in round one.  This is where the psychology plays into the draft.  You know you have the advantage on the managers who drafts outfielders and pitcher cause the next crop of players in those positions aren’t far off from them, and you know they will be fighting over the infield leftovers.   So based on that ask yourself these questions before you pick:

31)   First, are there any players that dominate his position? Grab your 150 player ranking and draw an ‘x’ next to the players you feel dominate their position.

32)   Next, ask yourself, which player plays on a team that will benefit that player’s fantasy stats.  Meaning for an offensive player, does he have a strong offense around him like the Yankees lineup? For a starting pitcher, does he have a strong offense and bullpen, and for the reliever does he have a winning team to get him the ball?  Place a double ‘x’ next to those players.  Again, keep the list confined to 10-20 players because you know in the 2^nd round you’ll be getting one of them on your list.

33)   This is where your league rules come into play, because the final question is which type (pitcher, reliever, power hitter, or table setter) has a distinct advantage in your scoring system. If you have determined there is an advantage for one or more triple ‘x’ those names.  You should have narrowed your list to a handful of players. When faced with a decision of position dominating players on good team that have the advantage in your scoring system go in this order needs: IF, RP, SP, and OF.  It’s that simple.  Starting pitching and outfielders are deep, so you can let them ride an extra round.  How big is the point spread between Jake Peavy and C.C. Sabathia? Exactly. Give up Peavy and get Miguel Cabrera. Then in the next round get C.C. Sabathia or the next best pitcher.  It’s that simple.

34)   Hopefully after two picks you have players that can dominate their positions as the one of the best at that position.  If you have done this, then the draft is in your control and you are in great shape going forward. If you were unable to get dominating players at both positions, you’ll have to make up for it round 3.

5.       Rounds 3-15, The Meat of The Draft
 

35)   The next 5 rounds will be the hardest of the draft and where some of the most important picks are made.  In the first two rounds you kind of knew what the selection of players would be and could narrow it to 25 or so.  In rounds 3-7 all bets are off and anyone can be taken in any round.  No team wins because of the picks they made in rounds one and two.

36)   Depending on your league’s scoring system these are the rounds to grab players in key positions.  Assuming your scoring system doesn’t burn pitchers, getting at least 3-4 from these rounds is in excellent idea. .  If you’ve already got a starting pitcher there is nothing wrong with getting a second to back up your ace, but what is really critical is getting a top-notch closer.

37)   Closers run many leagues, and like we mentioned earlier in the bible they have scoring categories all to themselves.  Allot of commissioners give save points close to the value of wins.  I’ve played in leagues where a win was 20 points and a save was 15 minus 3 points for the save opportunity.  Now, the best starting pitcher may get 22 wins for 440 points.  A closer would get 45 saves out of 50 opportunities for 525 points.  Not all leagues score wins and saves so close, but most are in the area and either way closers are big boppers.  Their PPI is also through the roof, so in leagues where you have an innings limit they kick butt and take names. 

38)   In rounds 3-7 get 2 closers, and 1-2 starting pitchers.  The other 1-2 picks should really be the best available player in a position you need.  Getting an awesome bat in the outfield or a key infielder could do the trick.  Whoever the players are you want to get ask yourself the questions we asked in verses 22-24 of this gospel.  If you have a chance to get players that dominate their position, and are on teams that can provide them support get them. 

39)   By round 8 not only should you have the players you need to already dominate, but you can in fact be in control the draft from your perspective.  If you drafted 2 closers you probably set-off a firestorm of closers getting drafted, which opens the door for you to pick up other key players for your starting roster.  Rounds 8-15 are still very meaty, and still critical to building your team so we can’t overlook them.

40)   Round 8-10 acquire another closer, starting pitcher, and fill in another needed position.  No backups.  Never take backups before round 16, unless its an outstanding player who could be a utility player.  That is the only reason to draft a backup when you still need key starters.

41)   Rounds 11-15 will set you in cruise control.  Dominating these rounds will put your team over the top.  By now you should have 3 closers, 2-3 pitchers, 4-5 offensive players? 

42)   Check your top 150 rankings and make sure you know which good players are still left on the table.  Odds are you still need a little of everything.  If there is still a very good catcher out there grab him in one of these rounds without a doubt.  Getting a good catcher at this point in the draft is a good deal compared to someone grabbing Victor Martinez in the 2^nd round.

43)   Make sure when you exit these rounds you have your infield complete.  Infielders go fast and though there are plenty of good first basemen, get one now.  You should have 3 dominating closers, 4-5 starting pitchers, and 2-3 outfielders/utility players. 

44)   The reason I suggest holding back on starting pitchers, outfielders, and utility players is there are so many of them that if anything is going to be available in the later rounds its those players.  Let the other managers squirm looking for a shortstop or third basemen.  You’ll have a large assortment of pitchers and outfielders to choose from with the last 10 rounds of the draft.     

6.       Rounds 16-25, its Sleeper Time!

45)   Here is the crazy part of the draft.  Not only can’t you gauge how it will go, but you will see allot of players drafted you never thought would.  Looking to your sleeper list, now is the time to draft them assuming they haven’t already been taken. 

46)   The definition of a sleeper has caused problems with the experts in the fantasy world.  What exactly is a sleeper?  Some experts feel a sleeper is simply someone who they think will do much better in the coming year then the year before.  For example, going into the 2007 season one crazy expert (whom I will not name) said Grady Sizemore was a sleeper.  Now, most if not all of us not only knew about Grady Sizemore, but he was rated high in several player ranking lists so therefore he’s not a sleeper.  In the next couple of verses I will give my definition of a sleeper. 

47)   A sleeper is a player who is relatively unknown and is earmarked for a great coming season or at some point will join his MLB club and do great things.  It can also be a player coming off of 1 or more bad seasons and maybe he joins a new club and his career can catch fire again.  The problem with those types of sleepers is people tend to know about them.  Some examples of sleepers from last season are Ryan Braun and Hunter Pence, who both came into the season after it had started and made huge impacts.  Basically, your job is to look at spring training and see who the teams are focusing on out of their prospects and comeback players.  There can be different tiers of sleepers as well, from light sleepers to deep sleepers.

48)   One of my best sleepers I ever picked besides Ryan Braun (2007) was Jonathan Papelbon in 2006.  As a Red Sox fan I saw him pitch in limited action in 2005.  Then in spring training of 2006 I saw how Keith Foulke was not recovering well from his injury.  I drafted Papelbon with the last pick of my draft in that league as a deep sleeper.  Well, The Red Sox pulled him out as their closer with the first save opportunity of the year and the rest is history.  I did happen to win the championship that season.

49)   It’s up to you when to decide to grab your sleepers.  Remember we told you how to handle your bench, so in most cases you’ll need more pitchers.  Always try to get a closer for your bench, and like I did take a chance on a sleeper.  It’s critical you keep your bullpen strong the whole season.  When Papelbon went down at the end of the 2006 season I had a replacement for him.  Make sure you quickly complete your outfield and get top backups.  Sleepers can make excellent backups in the outfield. 

50)   Finally, get as many players as possible that you feel good with plugging into the utility spot.  By the end of the draft, assuming your positions are relatively normal, you should have plenty of pitching and 3-5 extra bats on offense.     

7.       Final Draft Advice

51)   Trying to predict a draft is nearly impossible.  The chapters above were written to help guide you through the draft.  In this final chapter we will try to remind you of some basic, but important strategies of drafting.

52)   First and foremost, plan ahead.  As your pick approaches its good to know a few players you want.  Knowing what you need when your pick comes up saves you from panicking and making a bad pick that can ultimately ruin your draft.

53)   Don’t abandon your plan or your papers.  Continue to develop your draft plan with each pick and monitor the other team picks by marking the positions they’ve taken. 

54)   Always know what you need.  If you took third basemen in the 2^nd round, don’t take one in the 4^th round unless his name is AROD!!!  We joke, but unless the player is so good you can’t pass him and he’ll qualify for the utility, he’s not worth it.  People have asked, “Why don’t you recommend taking the same position high in the draft or even consecutive picks. 

55)   The answer is simple logic.  The utility player can be played by anybody and throughout the season you will find free agents, sleepers, or just good players to not only fill that roster spot, but maybe you pickup a surprise free agent who becomes your third basemen and you slide your other third basemen into the utility slot.  This position id a critical one to fill, but because its open to all players there are so many options that it just doesn’t make sense to draft a player to high for it unless the player is worth the pick. 

56)   Now we aren’t saying don’t draft Travis Hafner or David Ortiz!  Those are premiere utility players, but beware paying too much for guys who only play utility and get there playing time cut during inter-league play.

57)   Remember to control the draft; do not let the draft control you.  The moment you make a pick because of what others have picked, the draft now controls you.  Stay with your plan and you should do well.

58)   Finally, relax and have fun.  The draft is the most exciting time in fantasy baseball.  Remember that the team you draft won’t be the team you win with.  Injuries will occur, free agents will shine, and sleepers will perform.  The draft is just another building block to a championship.  It’s the most important, but not the only building block.

59)   Understanding how to properly draft is the primary building block to a championship team. If you have any questions about your draft, email us at thetrueguru@fantasybaseballsearch.com.